Lingo Price: $54 in the US, £59 in the UK for Two Weeks

Abbott's Lingo is a glucose sensor you can buy without a prescription. On Abbott's own sites in October 2026, a two-week sensor costs $54 in the US and £59 in the UK.¹² The UK number is the bigger one even before converting pounds into dollars.

That is only one of the routes to a continuous glucose monitor, or CGM, without a prescription. Dexcom sells a rival called Stelo in the US. In the UK, pharmacies sell Abbott's medical sensor, the FreeStyle Libre 2 Plus, without one. In the US, the same kind of medical sensor needs a prescription, and paying cash for it costs several times more.

Monthly cost of each route

Prices are for one person wearing sensors back to back. We converted every price to 30 days of wear so the rows compare.

The 30-day column is our own arithmetic: the listed price divided by the days of wear, times 30. Sensor prices change often and vary by seller. Treat each row as a dated reading, not a fixed tariff.

Lingo: the same sensor at two prices

Lingo launched in the UK first. In January 2024 it started at £89 for a single sensor, with a four-sensor starter pack for £300, as reported by the radio station LBC.⁶ Abbott's UK site now lists a two-week plan at £59.²

The US launch came in September 2024, at $49 a sensor. Engadget reported that two sensors cost $89 and six cost $249.⁷ In October 2025 Walmart became the first US store chain to stock it, with a two-week pack "just under $50", according to Fierce Biotech.⁸ Abbott's US site now lists the two-week plan at $54.¹

So the UK price has fallen by about a third since launch, and the US price has risen slightly. The pound figure is still higher than the dollar figure. Multi-sensor packs bring the US cost down: at the launch prices, six sensors for $249 work out to about $41.50 each.⁷

Stelo: priced by the month

Dexcom's Stelo was the first CGM the US Food and Drug Administration cleared for sale without a prescription, in March 2024.⁹ Each sensor can be worn for up to 15 days.⁹

Stelo's site lists a monthly subscription at $89, against $99 without one.³ Fierce Biotech describes the $99 price as a two-pack covering up to 30 days.⁸ That makes Stelo the cheapest route per month of the US options in the table.

Not every sensor lasts the full 15 days. Dexcom's own study found 77.9% of Stelo sensors did, and about 10% of the rest stopped before day 12.³

The UK has a cheaper route to a medical sensor

In the US, Abbott's FreeStyle Libre sensors for diabetes needed a prescription as of June 2024. Abbott said so itself at the time, adding that the Libre sensors had been sold over the counter in more than 50 other countries for a decade.¹⁰

The UK is one of them. Abbott's UK site tells people who do not qualify for an NHS prescription that they "can choose to self-fund".¹¹ One online pharmacy, MyPharmacy, lists a Libre 2 Plus sensor at £69.99 and a Libre 3 Plus from £80.99.⁴ The listing's only purchase condition is that the buyer is 18 or over.⁴

A 15-day Libre 2 Plus at that price costs about £140 a month, compared with about £126 for Lingo. For about £14 more, a UK buyer gets a sensor built for managing diabetes, with alarms for highs and lows.⁴ Lingo's UK site says Lingo is "not for medical use".²

A prescription sensor bought with cash in the US

For Americans without coverage, the medical sensors are the expensive route. SingleCare, a prescription discount service, puts the average cash price of a 30-day supply of Dexcom G7 sensors at $579.⁵ That is three sensors, each worn for 10 days.

The same source lists a lower price of $332 at Kroger with its discount card.⁵ Dexcom's own site offers a savings programme that it says takes $200 off the retail cash price of a monthly sensor pack.¹²

A month of Stelo at $89 is less than a sixth of the $579 average for G7. The gap is the price of what the over-the-counter sensors leave out.

Who the over-the-counter sensors are for

Both US over-the-counter sensors are cleared for adults who do not use insulin.

• Stelo is intended for people 18 and older not on insulin. That includes people with diabetes who take oral medication.⁹ The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it is not for people with problematic hypoglycaemia, meaning low blood sugar. It is "not designed to alert the user" to it.⁹
• Lingo in the US is intended for users 18 and older not on insulin. It is "not intended for diagnosis of diseases, including diabetes."¹
• Lingo in the UK is sold as a wellness product. Abbott's UK site says it is not for medical use and not for "diagnosis or management of any disease including diabetes".²

Stelo's indications say users should not make medical decisions from its readings without talking to a health professional.³ The FDA said Stelo shows readings every 15 minutes.⁹ Lingo's US site says it sends glucose data every minute.¹

What the price tags leave out

• Insulin users are excluded. Neither US over-the-counter sensor is cleared for anyone on insulin.⁹¹ For them, the cheaper rows in the table are not an option.
• NHS sensors have narrow criteria. Guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for adults with type 2 diabetes offers a scanned CGM to people on multiple daily insulin injections. They must also meet one of a short list of conditions, such as recurrent hypoglycaemia.¹³ Both criteria for adults require insulin treatment, so someone with type 2 diabetes not on insulin does not qualify under them.
• Subscriptions renew. Stelo's $89 price is a monthly subscription.³ Lingo's two-week US plan does not auto-renew.¹
• The app matters. Lingo and Stelo both send readings to their maker's phone app.¹³ A cheaper sensor is no use if the app does not run on your phone.
• Sensor failures. Lingo's US site promises a free replacement if a sensor stops working before 14 days.¹ Stelo's own data show about one sensor in five does not last its full 15 days.³

How to use these numbers

Start with the question of insulin. If you use it, the over-the-counter sensors are not cleared for you, and the comparison is between prescription routes.

If you do not, compare the cost per 30 days, not per box. A 10-day, 14-day and 15-day sensor at similar prices give very different monthly bills. In the UK, check the Libre 2 Plus price before buying Lingo: at one pharmacy's listing, a medical sensor costs about £14 a month more.

For a price on prescription sensors with insurance, see our article on Dexcom G7 and Libre costs and coverage.